Who do we call criminals and how do we treat them? While there are certainly terrible crimes, and secure prisons are needed, by and large we are criminalising poverty, mental health conditions and race. We hold Royal Commissions, and commission reports, but largely ignore their recommendations. What is going on?

Margaret Clifford will provide a reflection on the Gospel Reading of the Day, (Matt 15:21-28) and discuss questions that arise from the reading, such as: What are our responsibilities as part of the human family? How big is our God?

In this week's homily, John Mark, a new member of our community, will share his parents' courageous stand for justice within the Catholic Church and his own hard-won recovery from years of chronic illness. He will reflect upon how the two things echo St Mary's in Exile's own story of overcoming adversity to become a welcoming community of inclusion and social justice promotion.

This week the Christian Church celebrates the feast of the much-misrepresented Mary Magdalene. Liz will explore a contemporary understanding of this woman of the Gospels.

The topic for this Sunday’s homily is “Who is my neighbour?”. John Scoble, a co-founder of St Lucia Spirituality, will address this issue through the parable of the Good Samaritan. He will approach the topic in an interactive manner, encouraging all of the congregation to use the process of Ignatian imaginative prayer to immerse themselves fully in the story.

Loretta will use story, reflections and songs to acknowledge Māori New Year - Matariki – which is celebrated on July 10.

Terry reminded us last week that we need to deeply listen to the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survival and the voices of their communities who refused to be silenced. During this NAIDOC Week “50 Years of Deadly” we look back at the stories, the marches, languages, art and leadership it took to get where we are because generations of people refused to be silenced. When history is forgotten, injustice is repeated. When wrongness is acknowledged, dignity is restored.

On this the eve of the 50th year of celebrating NAIDOC week, First Nations people invite us to celebrate their Blak excellence, cultural strength, community leadership and resilience. For this to truly happen for us as a nation, what is required is a deep listening that we have not been very good at doing for 256 years.

What is our SMX calling as a group of Christian disciples? What is our national responsibility as a wealthy multicultural society? Matthew 5: 3-12 calls, challenges and confronts us concerning refugees. Can we consider together the several lenses through which we see refugees?